Bell turned to see several of his familia members were up out of their seats and seemed ready to jump into action when they realized there was no danger from the little spell Misato casted. He saw Takeru with a hand on her blade, Arue with her wand half raised, Chitoge and Kallen ready to dash to his side.
He even saw his Goddess with one of her sandals raised in her hand like a weapon.
"I-it's alright everyone!" Bell turned to face them his arms before him as if to hold the whole horde back, "Misato used some healing magic on me, I feel fine, better than fine actually,"
Several of the newcomers were looking at the scene with curious eyes like Charlotte and Miyuki, to bemused smiles like Olivier and Hakufu.
Black general was watching the goings on in rapt attention, somehow procuring a bag of potato puffs for herself, which she was eating away with clear enjoyment.
Everyone eventually stood down though and Bell exhaled a sigh of relief. He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and turned to see Misato with that gentle smile on her face. She walked ahead of them and gave a deep bow to the others.
"My apologies," she began, "I saw Bell was winded somewhat and thought my magic could help," she rose up and scratched at the side of her cheek, "perhaps suddenly using magic out of the blue like that was a poor call, given I'm practically a stranger right now."
Hestia huffed at the apology, "Yeah, that little mystic show definitely should have been done with more caution," she waved a hand at the others around her, "some of us take our security very seriously, especially as of late," she saw the apologetic look on the elf's face and softened her tone, "just be careful and," she looked around at the others, more accurately, the others that were ready to attack, "…maybe we could tone it down a bit next time. Not complaining about the reaction but…we did just get this home renovated. I don't think we want to wreck it already."
Some of the others nodded at that and looked quite sheepish after hearing that truth.
Misato smiled and gave Bell a quick bow and went to rejoin the others, dispensing with greetings here and there.
Bell smiled, seeing the situation finally calmed. He brought his attention once more to his task.
Two more summons.
The Tier five summons.
Characters that could stand on the ground as a level five adventurer. Easily the strongest allies he will have summoned so far. With that truth and a good idea at what kind of characters the other Tiers provided, he could only imagine what kind of allies he would call upon.
He wasn't scared, not in the least.
He was absolutely excited.
Hearing Misato had received her sunglasses, Bell began the first of his last summons.
"By my voice, hear. My words, come. Answer my call and come forth."
"Oh my! I'm really glad you all prioritized eye protection. That really is a bright light."
"A lesson we probably should have learned earlier, if I'm honest."
"Nonsense, Hestia! Any lesson learned late or early is still a viable lesson. You just have to put it to practice, and so you did!"
"…why do I feel like a student all the sudden?"
'Tier 5 summon complete.'
Once the light cleared and the ethereal petals disappeared, Bell was treated to the sight of his newest companion.
His eyes met a pair of dark blue ones and he blinked suddenly, wondering if he was seeing things. He looked into the woman's eyes again and he stared at the dark orbs in amazement.
'She has…two pupils? In each eye?!'
She was a lithe statuesque woman, with muscles that stood out proudly upon a busty and curvy body, not once taking away from the martial beauty that held them, even the six-pack she sported was beautiful in a subtle way. She wore a two piece dark green bikini-like attire that would be suitable for any amazon, with the lower portion being a dark brown for contrast, giving her attire an earthy feel. On her long muscular legs were long leggings that were a similar green to her attire, they went up her legs but exposed her upper inner thighs and a portion of her backside as well. With her green shoes it was almost seamless.
Her blonde hair went down to her mid back and on her forehead was something Bell nearly mistook for it for a mask and in a way it was, but he could tell that the eye parts of the mask held some kind of lenses in them and given how they protruded from the mask, Bell was certain they were goggles of some kind.
Given how avian the mask looked, Bell was more positive they were telescopic goggles of some kind.
The woman looked at Bell with her four pupils before passing her gaze around the room and to the others. Bell felt a small chill roll up his spine when the woman focused on him the longest, looking over his form with searching eyes.
It was not a gaze of appreciation but of a hunter studying potential or curious prey.
He felt a gaze like that on him once before, when he was about ready to leave his village for Orario. He heard of a bear that was harassing other farms in the village and even killing some livestock. Bell put the duty on himself to track the bear and kill it before it could do further damage.
When he first saw it, it was when it too caught sight of him. Bell remembered staring into the eyes of the animal, seemingly sensing its thoughts just from that contact alone.
It looked at him as if he were prey. Something that this woman was also doing.
Except it didn't feel like a bear was evaluating him…
But a hawk instead.
The woman lessened her stare and Bell felt like a pressure was taken off his heart. He tried his best to not let his nervousness show but he doubted he could fool this woman. Something about her told him that.
She gave another cursory look around the area, briefly turning around and showing Bell her well curved bottom.
That bikini wear did not hide much and the form fitting leggings only emphasized things!
Bell was going to need to call upon all of his training with Koukin just to communicate with this person. Her attire and exposed body threatened to turn him into a blushing, blubbering idiot.
"Another world, huh?" the woman said, turning to look back at Bell, "crazy to think about in the best of times. Crazier still for it to actually be real," she reached up and touched her goggles, "at least I came here with these with me. Or…created with them? Argh, this is just crazy all around."
She renewed her focus on Bell, her dual pupil eyes focused on him, "I take it you're the one who summoned me?" she asked, "don't suppose you know exactly who I am?"
Bell shook his head, "N-no. Whenever I summon anyone, it's always random," he paused, remembering Hakufu, "most of the time."
The woman hummed, rubbing her chin with a balanced hand, inadvertently pushing her breasts together. Bell nearly did blush a nuclear scarlet at the gesture.
She lowered her hands and gave Bell a smile. One that radiated confidence and pride, "Well well little man. You just got lucky with your roll here," she pointed a thumb at herself, "you just so happened to summon one of the greatest weapon martial artists in the world! One of the 'Eight Shining Executioner Blades' and the greatest archer in the world, Mildred Lawrence!"
She ended her introduction by standing all the taller, hands on sculpted hips. Looking at Bell with those unique eyes of hers.
Bell had grown…somewhat accustomed to the various introductions of those he summoned and he always thought he could try and match their enthusiasm, in a way that welcomed them comfortably.
In the end…Bell was still the polite farm boy that his grandpa raised and thus his greeting was just as polite, even in the face of such verboseness.
He held out a hand, a polite smile on his face, "Nice to meet you Mildred," he greeted, "I'm Bell Cranel, captain of the Hestia familia."
Mildred's proud stance faltered in the face of Bell's frank and honest introduction. Feeling as though the wind was taken out of her sails far too early for her liking.
She wanted to be a bit frustrated about that but one look at Bell's nervous and earnest features cooled any negative emotions she felt. With a sigh, she took a few steps towards him and stuck out a gloved hand, one that only covered her palm, and both index and middle finger, "Nice to meet you," she said in return, amicably.
Bell smiled at her and reached out a hand and clasped hers in a firm handshake, "nice to meet you too. You're the first archer we've summoned," he cocked his head slightly in thought, a sight that definitely reminded Mildred of a curious rabbit, "though Kallen does use a hand crossbow. If that counts?"
Mildred wasn't going to comment on that. Might be too rude.
"Glad I could impress with what I say," she winked at him, "I'll do more with my skills, later."
Bell smiled in turn but it was somewhat shaky. He felt on edge around this woman. Way more than he did with the others, except maybe one or two of them. It was just the way the woman stared at him. He wasn't bothered by the dual pupils in each eye, far from it, he thought they looked cool…
And would look right at home in the eyes of a hawk.
He shook the feeling again and gestured behind him with a wave, "We have one more ally to summon. If you go to the others, they'll answer any questions you may have."
Mildred looked over the crowd, trying to find something. She blinked and pointed to someone, "Is that your Goddess?"
Bell turned and saw she was pointing right at Hestia, who was struggling to wrestle the near empty bag of potato puffs out of Black General's hands.
Bell felt sweat drip down the side of his head, a little embarrassed at seeing his Goddess act like that, "Y-Yeah," he answered, "she's usually more…godly than that but she's a reliable Goddess no question."
Mildred's long flat stare was enough to tell Bell exactly what she thought about that. She didn't buy it.
Nevertheless, she shrugged her shoulders and began walking to the others, giving Bell a pat on the shoulders in passing. He was nearly tipped over from the casual strength the woman possessed.
When she got her blessing, who knows how strong she'll be then. She would be as strong as a level five after all.
Bell watched her go, his gaze on her muscular back. He was impressed with her physique and he imagined that it was muscle earned from her skill and practice with the bow. His gaze traveled down and he found himself briefly hypnotized by her hip movement and her curvy rear.
She could almost be called naked down there were it not for the bottom trace of her bikini-like clothing being visible.
He caught a look out of his periphery and saw it was Koukin and Hakufu staring at him with bemused smiles.
He was caught!
He turned his attention back to summoning his final ally. His face red and his ears were burning.
'Keep on task. Keep on task. Don't think about their stares. Don't think about the embarrassment!'
He shook his head, ridding the blush on his face and prepared to call upon his magic again.
"Woah! Those eyes are so cool!"
"Thanks and they definitely do more than look cool."
"What? Can you see four things at the same time?"
"…can't you?"
"No I…wait…yes? I mean I'm looking at more than four things right now, with everyone that's here and the room but…argh my head hurts."
"Well let me simplify it for you. Anyone can look at more than one thing at the same time but few can 'focus' on four things at the same time."
"…huh?"
"Let me get a bow and some arrows later. I'll show you what I mean."
Bell again refocused, channeling his magic into the same words he has spoken over and over again.
"By my voice, hear. My words, come. Answer my call and come forth."
The light…
"Woah! That is very bright!"
"Hence the sunglasses Miss Lawrence."
'Tier 5 summon complete.'
For the final time of the day, the light died down, revealing the final ally of the Hestia familia.
She was a girl around Bell's age, maybe older, with blue eyes and long wavy black hair that was mostly loose and flowing down her back with the exception of two twin-tails on either side of her head that draped over her shoulders. She wore a red turtleneck and a black skirt with black stockings that left just enough of a gap to show skin between skirt and stocking. Ending it all were a pair of brown leather shoes, flats really.
She looked around herself in evident amazement before reaching up to her head as if experiencing a headache. She grimaced somewhat but soon returned to a look of wonder at her surroundings. Her eyes eventually fell upon the others, from which her eyes widened further, before landing on Bell and pausing, looking him up and down. Paying close attention to his white hair and red eyes with her scrutiny.
"Not gonna lie," the girl said, "this is absolutely insane," she looked down at herself, seemingly surprised to see that she was wearing clothes, or just amazed that they were her clothes, "by my own understanding, this shouldn't be possible. Not without some serious magic or divine force."
She then paused in thought, as if searching through her mind. She sighed and gave Bell a tired smile, as if the realization she came to was exhausting to contemplate, "though in this case, it's a little of both."
She stood straighter than, with more dignity and pride and introduced herself, "Greetings…summoner?" she asked, earning a nod from Bell, "My name is Rin Tohsaka, mage of," she trailed off, as if debating saying the next thing. She decided anyway, "The Clocktower. I'm well capable of using many forms of magecraft but I have my specialties here and there," she gave Bell a smile, "I know somewhat about this world but still there nuances that I may have difficulty with," she leveled a stare at Bell that reminded him of Eina whenever she was expecting him to answer a question correctly during their lessons, "I trust I can count on you to provide information where I may be lacking?"
"Yes!" Bell answered, like a student before a teacher, "I'll do my best to answer any questions you have," he suddenly felt embarrassed by his response and swiftly shook himself off the student sensation.
"My name is Bell Cranel, by the way," he said, holding out a hand, "it's nice to meet you, Miss Tohsaka. I am the Hestia familia captain."
Rin took the offered hand and gave it a shake, her face softening into a slight smile, "Please to meet you, Mister Cranel," she said. She paused, suddenly recognizing what he said about his familia, "did you say Hestia? As in 'the' Hestia? Goddess of home and hearth? She's here, an actual Goddess?!"
Bell had no idea where this sudden enthusiasm came from but he nodded and pointed over to the couch where his Goddess sat. He saw Hestia was happily munching away at a bag of potato puffs, looking smug as Black General lay beside her, defeated at having lost the battle for the potato puffs. Bell saw Rin gape at the Goddess in bewilderment.
"That's Hestia?" Rin asked, her enthusiasm dying suddenly, "that short…stacked…woman is the Ancient Greek Goddess of home and hearth?"
She sounded so disappointed and sad all the sudden and Bell couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her, though he didn't know why.
"I don't know what Greek is but Hestia is…well Hestia," Bell answered with a shrug, "were you expecting her to be…someone else?"
Rin pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on, "I don't know, yes? No? Maybe?" she moved her hand to her head and rubbed at her hair, "I just was expecting a God to be," she gestured emphatically to Hestia, "you know, Godly. A primordial being that is a manifestation of power itself. A concept of reality made into a manifestation. A ball of pure light and energy! Not a…a," she saw Hestia politely wave to her, a soft smile on her face, "a complete surprise."
Bell had no idea how to respond to such words. Frankly, he was quite baffled by them. He never put much imagination into what a God or Goddess was. He knew they were extremely powerful in Heaven but that power all but vanished once they descended down to the mortal realm. To Bell, Gods and Goddesses just…were what they are. He hardly needed to imagine what else they could be.
This made him suddenly realize something.
"Wait," Bell began, "shouldn't you already know what the Gods and Goddesses are like here once you're summoned? Don't you receive knowledge about this world when you're summoned?"
Rin grumbled and crossed her arms, tapping one finger on her forearm, "Yes but," she let out an exhale, "it's not that easy to rightly accept. I still have a good deal of knowledge of my old life and how that world works," she tilted to the side, humming in thought, arms still crossed, "kinda hard to let that go and embrace a whole new world full of different concepts and facts that wouldn't be imaginable in my old world," she straightened her posture and uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her hips. An air of stubborn pride hanging about her, "but that just means I have to adapt fast. Something I'm definitely used to after everything I've done."
Bell would ask what that entailed but decided that could wait on a different day.
"Well that's good to hear," he turned and gestured Rin to follow him, "let's go meet the others. You're our last summoned ally we called upon today," he smiled and Rin could tell it was a tired one, "it's been amazing to meet all of you. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all can do."
Rin gave a huff as she followed Bell to meet the others. She flipped one of her hair tails to the side and with a smile, she replied with pride, "Be sure to pay close attention to what I can do. I promise that you will be amazed by my performance."
Bell smiled again and Rin could definitely see exhaustion in his face now, especially when he smiled so honestly, "I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to impress you as well," he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "somehow," he ended modestly.
They reached the others and soon Rin was being acquainted by both old and new members of the familia, who greeted her politely, professionally, and sometimes happily. Ibuki definitely was the latter with her greeting.
Bell was silent while Rin made introductions with the others. He found his way to an empty spot on one of the couches and sat down, exhaustion truly setting in once he sat down, more than just physical.
'Mind down,' Bell thought, recognizing the feeling that was nearly creeping over him , 'guess I should have taken that potion after summoning Misato after all.'
Bell found it harder to keep his eyes open, the effort alone was tiring. He tried his best regardless, there was still so much to go over with the others. He couldn't rest, not now.
He felt someone approaching near him on the couch and felt something soft drape over him. Looking down through half lidded eyes, he saw it was a soft throw blanket that was once draped over the back of the couch. He turned his head and saw his vice-captain, Koukin, had draped it over him, a soft smile on her face.
"Rest, captain," she said, her tone soft, "you have done what was asked," she turned to her side, where Hakufu watched with a smile on her own face, "and so much more," she looked back to him, "I'll handle the rest."
Bell wanted to protest but found himself slowly seeping into the comfort that the blanket provided. He found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open in the face of such relaxation. Nonetheless, he gave Koukin a look that didn't need words to express what it meant, nor the worry within them.
Koukin chuckled and leaned over to Bell, raising his chin with a careful hand. She kissed him softly on the lips, the sensation relaxing Bell further. She drew back and he saw Hakufu was watching with amused eyes over Koukin's shoulder. Not looking at all bothered by the action of her lover.
In fact, she looked like she wanted to try and kiss him, if just to see how his lips tasted.
"I'm sure, Bell," Koukin said, her voice still soft, "leave the rest to me and enjoy your rest. I'll tell you everything that happened once you wake up. For now, rest."
Bell's eyes soon shut after hearing the reassurance of his vice-captain, the person who first embraced him some nights ago. Who he shared a night of passion with.
He didn't worry anymore and just relaxed, letting the comfort take him.
It would only be a few hours in any case and the day was still young. He could afford to rest for a little bit.
And when he woke up, he will have a bigger familia waiting for him and allies he couldn't wait to work with and befriend.
Bell Cranel rested, looking forward to what lay in store for him and his familia in the days to come.
Deep within the dungeon, an old pallum looked up at a wall of mist that was too thick to see through. It was one of the entrances to the seventeenth floor and behind this curtain of mist was the floor that housed the monster rex.
Goliath.
He wasn't concerned, the monster was soundly defeated barely a week ago and would take another before it spawned again. It was the perfect time to pass through and make it to the eighteenth floor where the Under Resort awaited.
He took one look around himself at the vast cave-like setting that surrounded him. High ceilings that he could barely see and countless rock and crystal formations littering around him. He still found it hard to imagine that the seventeenth floor was somehow bigger than even this floor.
Then again, you had no choice but to believe it otherwise you had no chance in the dungeon, where the floors only get stranger and stranger going down.
"Belief," he muttered, tasting the word, "a concept that doesn't need proof or fact to justify. Simply faith is enough."
He reached behind him to his backpack, unzipping a pocket in its side and drawing out something. A small box, ornate in design covered in symbols and lettering that hurt the eyes if one looked long enough.
Except for the old pallum.
He looked at it for a moment more before returning it to his backpack. He walked forward and to the seventeenth floor.
"Now let's get started," Dr. Moreau said, walking through the mist, "the experiment begins."
The curtain of mist closes behind him as he leaves the floor.
And the mangled bodies of five adventurers behind him as well.